I disclaim. I own nothing.

Chapter 10

Cary thought about meeting Tara at her house. When she dropped him off the night before she mentioned how she didn't live too far and he figured he could find the house pretty easily if he simply looked for her car. He couldn't wait to see her again, be with her again. But he forced himself to go to the garage like they agreed.

He'd gone to sleep with the taste of her on his tongue. Woke up this morning remembering the way her entire body reacted when he pulled his fingers from between her thighs only to slip them into his mouth. He wasn't sure which he enjoyed more; her reaction or her taste. Only knew that he was eager to experience both again.

When she told him to meet her at the garage, she hadn't mentioned if she'd be working. He hoped she would be, hoped she'd be wearing another tank top that would show off the hickies he put on her. It had been a bold move, perhaps even a dangerous one if the signs he picked up from the club were anything to go by. But he couldn't help himself. The second he kissed her it was like his mind was taken over by the most primal part of himself that demanded he mark her, claim her. He hadn't been able to stop himself.

"She doesn't work today."

Cary frowned at the kid who stepped out of the bay. "What's that?"

"If you're looking for Tara, she doesn't work today."

"It's not a problem. I'm just meeting her here is all."

"I'm Lowell, by the way." He held out one grease covered hand.

Non-plussed, Cary took the offered hand. "Cary."

Lowell studied the other boy, who was easily taller than he was and more comfortable with himself than Lowell could ever recall being. He'd seen the way Tara reacted to him the day before, knew instantly that she flipped completely over him. And now looking at the black case the boy wore strapped to his back he thought if she wasn't gone before she would be now. "You play guitar?"

"Aye."

Lowell started to walk back to the garage but hesitated a moment. Gemma was already in the office. Clay, Tig, Otto, and Bobby had been in early and had already headed back out. Piney, Happy, and Kozik had yet to show up but Lowell wasn't entirely sure they weren't meeting up with the others elsewhere. He didn't know how long he had before they came back or before Jax and Opie showed up, but he figured he had to say something. Not just because Tara was his friend, but he thought if the guy was sincerely interested in Tara it wouldn't hurt to give him a heads up. "You need to be careful with her."

"What's that?"

"Tara, she's not…her dad's in the club but Tara's not about that. She's actually kind of…sheltered." Considering Tara kissed him first, Lowell knew how that sounded coming from him. But he figured Cary didn't need to know how Tara had eased him into every aspect of their relationship. "The guys in the club, they still treat her like she's a kid. And anyone who comes around showing any interest in her, they scare off. So she doesn't get to go out on a lot of dates."

Cary had to run a hand over his face to keep his grin from showing. He'd already figured Tara was a virgin but he never would have guessed she was so inexperienced. Maybe he should have, the way she trembled whenever he touched her. But he'd just been so caught up he never stopped to think. Couldn't stop to think with the way she kissed him back, she'd made his fucking head swim. "She's a princess?"

"You've no idea." Lowell stepped closer so as not to be over heard by Gemma. They were a good distance from the office, but he would swear the woman saw and heard everything that happened between the clubhouse and the garage. "Every time Tara and I went out, Tig would show up and drag her away."

"You and Tara?" Cary tried to picture it. The kid in front of him seemed to be all nerves. The girl he went out with the night before would have ate him alive.

"Yeah…like freshman year."

"She have someone now." Not that Cary would let that matter. He wouldn't claim to know Tara all that well, but she didn't seem like the kind of girl who'd have a tumble in the backseat with one fella when she had another sitting some place else. But even if she did, Cary didn't think he was above working to put an end to any relationship she had with someone else.

"Naw," Lowell shook his head. "I think she went out with some guy in San Diego over the summer. And Hale's been chasing after her forever, but Tara's never been interested."

Cary couldn't keep his lips from quirking up in a smile. "Am I missing something with this girl." It just seemed odd to him that a girl as smart and as pretty as Tara would not a have guy interested in her enough to at least try to win over the club. "She's not completely mental is she?"

"Oh she's really smart, probably the smartest girl in school. But she's cool about it. She just has an old man the size of a grizzly, a brother nearly as big, and…well…Tig." Lowell couldn't think of any other way to describe Tig. He wasn't a big man, but he was one of the scariest to exist.

"Ah, but with a girl like that…" Cary grinned but said nothing. He knew how intimidating an MC could be, fuck knew first hand how intimidating the one they called Tig could be, but he wasn't going to let shit like that stop him.

Lowell grabbed the rag for his hands out of the back pocket of his jeans, twisted it nervously between his fingers before deciding he needed to say one more thing. "Tara's not the kind of girl that should be hurt."

At the intensity of the other boy's gaze, Cary became serious as well. Lowell hadn't mentioned how or why the relationship with Tara ended. But he realized it likely didn't matter as the two obviously remained very good friends. "I'm not looking to hurt her. I just want to know her." It was the safest way he could think to put it and it seemed to work as the other boy relaxed.

"You girls done gossiping." Gemma stepped out of the office to lean against the side of the garage. She tried, but between the lanky kid's accent and Lowell's mumbling she hadn't been able to make out a thing they said.

"Sorry Gemma." Lowell stepped in her direction. "I'm nearly finished. Is it okay if Cary keeps me company until Tara gets here."

Gemma's eyes narrowed. "You're Sean's nephew."

"Aye. Cary, ma'am." He reached her in two long strides, hand extended when he was within reach. "You must be Mrs. Morrow."

"I am." Gemma took the boy's hand and didn't try to hide the fact that she was studying him. His hair, though she wouldn't say it was messy, stuck out at in a few odd places. She'd guess he hadn't shaved in a few days for the amount of stubble darkening his cheeks. And he was long, seemed to be all arms, legs, feet and hands. He wore a pair of jeans a size too large and ripped at the knees, a flannel tied around his waist, and a dark jacket thrown over a white T-shirt. And a big black guitar case strapped to his back. Gemma figured he should have trouble etched across his forehead because she knew without a doubt that was exactly what he was. "You plan on walking around here playing guitar."

"No ma'am. Last night I mentioned to Tara that I play and she seemed interested. So I figured I'd bring her along, see if Tara would like to learn a bit."

Gemma thought Tara was probably more than interested. And if the look in the boy's eye was anything to go by the guitar wasn't all he was interested in teaching Tara. Suddenly events of the day before began to make sense. Tig had been like a caged bear, prowling the floor of the clubhouse until he knocked back enough shots to calm himself down and even with a nice buzz going he seemed agitated. Bobby and Otto kept shooting glances at Piney while going out of their way to avoid him. While Clay did his best to change the subject every time she asked about Sean's family. She should have pressed, but her head had been full of details for the family dinner she was planning for tonight she simply let it go. "Are you and Tara going for another tour?"

"No, she offered to help me find a flat. I doubt I could afford anything right now, but no harm in looking."

A pretty Irish boy with a guitar and his own place. The boy was trouble with a capital TROUBLE.

Opie didn't like Cary. He'd yet to meet him, to even speak two words to him, but he didn't like him. Despite what people thought, Opie didn't have a problem with his sister dating. He didn't dislike Lowell because Lowell was dating Tara. He disliked Lowell because he thought his sister could do better. It was why he wasn't concerned about her mystery guy in San Diego.

Yeah, the old man made noises over the idea of Tara going out with a college guy, but it made sense to Opie. His parents had big dreams for Tara, big college bound initials before and after her name dreams. Guys like Lowell didn't fit into the future set out for Tara. Shit most of the guys in Charming didn't fit into the future set out for Tara. Not even David Hale with his uptight parents and big house. Because David Hale never planned on leaving Charming. And every year it was becoming clearer and clearer to Opie that Mary was doing all she could to make sure Tara did. He knew his mother was hoping that Tara would have enough pull over him to get him out as well. Opie didn't know how to tell her that wasn't likely to happen. SAMCRO was in his blood, it was where he belonged. He was as sure of that as he was that Tara didn't belong there.

Maybe he was biased but he thought his sister was too good to end up taking care of Lowell for the rest of her life or serving Charming like Hale would inevitably do. And she sure as fuck deserved better than to be Jax's Old Lady. Jax was his best friend and he loved the guy, he trusted him with his life, they were brothers in all but blood. But Opie knew Jax and he couldn't trust Jax with his sister's heart.

They might have thought him oblivious, but Opie was entirely too aware of the way Jax and Tara looked at each other, the way they would always find some excuse to touch each other. And he knew if it had been someone other than Jax it wouldn't have pissed him off. Just like he wouldn't have rolled his eyes at the way she use to blush and stutter around Lowell. Because really, who the fuck got tongue-tied around Lowell.

Still he thought if she were just blushing and stuttering or flirting and touching when it came to Cary, it would have been infinitely better than what he was seeing. He didn't even know how to begin to describe the way his sister had acted when she came in the night before. She could be moody, hell he could be moody, they were too much like their old man not to be. And Tara was often easily annoyed by Jax and Kyle. But she knew how to ignore them so she didn't snap at them. And she always took his protectiveness in stride. Her mood from the night before was completely unlike her and Opie just knew this Cary had something to do with it.

He didn't know what happened, didn't need to know. All he knew, all he needed to know, was that his sister had come home clearly upset. And it was his job to make sure that didn't happen again.

"If that's a guitar I'm kicking this guy's ass."

Opie said nothing as he pulled off his helmet. Tara had followed them to the garage, she hadn't told them why. And when Opie saw the new face standing talking to Gemma he thought he knew now. His sister was really good at, not lying but avoiding giving the whole truth.

"You need to say something to him," Jax urged his friend. "Stop him before he gets near her and let him know what's what."

Continuing to say nothing, Opie only gave his friend an impassive look. Jax was all action, reactive in a way that would be a problem some day. It wasn't how Opie did things, it wasn't how Winstons did things. Opie felt that Piney's first words to him were to 'pay attention' and that's exactly what he did now. He noticed the way Cary's eyes lit up when he looked across the lot at Tara, noticed the confident stride in his walk when he approached her. Opie noticed the way his sister blushed, the eagerness in her eyes that gave way to something else the closer Cary got. She became nervous, anxious as she began to chew on her bottom lip. Cary seemed to notice as well as the hand that had been reaching out to touch her, pulled back so that his fingers only lightly brushed down her arm. Tara made a weird movement as if she wasn't sure if she wanted to lean into the touch or flinch away from it.

"I didn't misunderstand you, did I? We were to meet here?"

There was something about everything he was looking at now that didn't sit right with Opie. It seemed like in just an instant Cary became a different person, his voice unsure in a way that didn't match his overly confident walk. And Tara seemed to relax before worry flashed across her features and this time she reached out to hesitantly brush her hand down Cary's arm. There didn't seem to be any point to the contact and even she looked confused as to why she'd done it.

"Where you guys going?" When Tara turned to look at him, it was like she had forgotten he was even there.

"Cary asked for help looking for a place."

Nodding, Opie moved until he was standing next to his sister. "I though you guys had a place over on Jefferson." He knew because Gemma had forced him and Jax to help move furniture in the place a few days ago.

"It's my Uncles. I just wanted something of my own. You're the brother, yeah?"

"Yeah. Opie."

"You need a guitar to go look for an apartment."

Cary turned to Jax, the confidence he had displayed earlier was back. "Yeah. But it's only because I don't really play it. Just carry it around to get pretty girls to talk to me."

"And if she asks you to play something for her?" Tara asked.

"The plan is to have used my charm so that she forgets all about the guitar."

Tara's eyes lit with mischief and teasing. "Too bad you're not that charming."

"Ow," Cary's hand went to his heart. "Has she always been so mean?"

Because the teasing was more along the lines of what he was use to from his sister, Opie relaxed a bit. Thought maybe he had just imagined the scene between them earlier. "As long as I've known her."

"I'm sorry."

They had been walking along Main, Tara didn't trust the things her heart and stomach did at the thought of being alone in her car with him again. She didn't know if he completely bought her excuse that it would just be easier to walk and view the lofts than drive. But he didn't argue with her, though he didn't hold her hand as she hoped he would either. "For what?"

Cary stopped walking, placing a hand lightly on her hip, he pushed her back into an alcove of a darkened storefront. She'd gone completely stiff on him and he would have moved back if she didn't start to tremble almost immediately. "Last night. I can be…forceful. I just…I see something I want and I have to have it."

"Oh," Tara didn't think this was a conversation they needed to have right in the middle of town or ever. And she definitely didn't think this was a conversation they needed to have with him pressed so closely. "You don't have to…"

"I do." Cary did back off now, making sure his voice was full of self-doubt and remorse. "It's just…I saw you yesterday and I wanted you so badly. I wanted…the women in the club here, they have the tattoos?"

Not entirely sure where he was going with this, Tara nodded. "Old Ladies get crows."

"That's what I wanted when I saw you. Not a club tattoo. But…I saw you and I wanted to…I wanted you to be mine. And going off with you, talking to you, getting to know you, I forgot not everyone moves as quickly as I do, I forgot that I hadn't known you my whole life. I probably shouldn't have kissed you, I know I shouldn't have…touched you like that." He dropped his voice, leaning in close so that it seemed like he didn't want them to be accidentally over heard, in truth he just wanted to make her tremble again. He wasn't disappointed. "Now I've fucked everything up."

Tara couldn't breathe. It felt like her entire world had narrowed down to this alcove. It embarrassed her to realize that she wasn't sure just what she'd do if he were to kiss her again, or try to touch her as he'd done the night before. He overwhelmed her, Tara couldn't think of any other way to describe it. "It…it was fast."

Now Cary did step away. "I feel as though you're about to break my heart, Tara."

"It was fast," Tara repeated, curling her hands into fist to keep from taking hold of his jacket to pull him back. "I've never done…I liked it." She was quick to say, cheeks flaming at the things she was admitting to him. "But I'd like to wait awhile before doing any of it again. And when I'm ready…I'd like to do it again with you."

There was nothing Cary could do to keep the grin off his face. "I'd like that, too." He wanted to ask her to be his, but something told him she wasn't quite ready for that. She asked him to slow down. Slow wasn't his normal gear, but he'd do it. For her. "Maybe we should start walking again, before someone thinks we're trying to get in here and nick the goods."

Tara's laugh was more out of relief than anything else. "That's a good idea."

Cary stepped out first, but again stopped before she could follow. "I'd like to hold your hand." He extended his arm, but didn't touch her. He thought it would go a long way if he gave her the choice.

It was utterly ridiculous. Tara knew that it was. She'd taken Lowell's hand first, had to as he was always afraid Tig or her dad would jump out and rip his arm off if he touched her. And Carter never held her hand, he was always throwing his arm around her shoulder or hooking it around her waist. She might not have a lot of experience but she wasn't new to boys. But none of that seemed to matter when it came to Cary as her heart actually skipped at his words. "I'd like for you to hold my hand." She said as she slipped her hand in his. Thought she may have floated three feet in the air if Cary wasn't keeping her tethered to the ground.

"Bro, what the fuck was that?"

"What was what?" Although Opie had a pretty good idea just what Jax was asking him.

"That Irish prick obviously fooled around with your sister last night. And instead of saying something to the guy, you joke around him with."

"He seemed alright." Opie mumbled. There was something about the guy that just didn't sit quite right with him. But Tara was different today than she had been the night before. Opie thought just maybe what she felt for the guy messed her up for a bit. He understood that. And she looked so happy with the guy, he made her laugh. So Opie figured he kind of owed it to his sister to give the guy a chance.

"Alright? The guy that messed around with your sister like an hour after he met her is alright."

"He's what she wants. What she's always wanted." Standing over the tool box he, Jax, Lowell, and Tara were made to share, Opie tried not to notice the way his best friend flinched. "It's best she gets this shit our of her system now before she's off at Harvard or Yale or wherever the fuck Mary's sending her. And finally meet a guy good enough for her."

"Finally…" Jax practically whispered the word, hating himself for the lump that formed in his throat. He knew Opie didn't want him with Tara, but he thought it was just some protective brother shit. It never occurred to him that Opie just didn't think he was good enough.